Pace of gentrification must be balanced_其他_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Pace of gentrification must be balanced

Still, price hikes for these businesses are somewhat justified because after each increase the venues are crowded as before. Not so for the shopping mall south of the Olympic venues. Panda Island was teeming with shoppers before the Olympics. Then the owners decided to upgrade. They kicked out all the stall operators and did a makeover. But few of the original stalls have moved back due to skyrocketing rent. Neither have shoppers.

Don't blame everything on the greed of a few real estate owners. Local governments are shaping urban China in similar ways, leaving a trail of empty streets that look like movie sets - pretty but soulless.

Case in point: the historical Qianmen Street south of Tian'anmen Square. It has all the trappings of a white elephant. By upgrading to a level unaffordable to old Beijingers, its core clientele, it aims to reap profits with margins so wide the whole Qing army could have marched through.

Leaving aside the issue of antiquity and restoration, a commercial district and its unique culture cannot be radically transformed with a mandate from a government office. Even if you had the best of intentions, it would be like "pulling up a seedling to hasten its growth." It doesn't take just time for buyers and sellers to find each other, it takes magic. Business theories can explain some of the factors, but not all. Once you destroy that special karma for a business hub, you may never be able to recreate it, even if you don't raise prices sky-high.